Is Exercise Better than Prozac?

Great question, huh? I bet you know my answer already. Of course it’s better! Science has proven it over and over. Science has also shown that Prozac is about as good as a placebo, so it’s not hard to beat that over-used drug for elevating your mood. Even so, exercise is definitely the king for getting you happy, and curing depression.

The reason exercise works so well is because it is better at changing your brain chemicals than anything else you can do. Ever wondered why? God created us to move and to keep moving all day. Our modern society however, requires most of us to sit down all day instead. This unnatural lifestyle screws up the chemical balance in our brains and causes a downward spiral of depression, junk food cravings, more sedentary choices, obesity, etc., etc., until we are dead (10-20 years earlier than we have been).

A recent article in Time points out that exercise is indeed the best drug out there. High intensity exercise like the X Gym workout or the X Gym DVD is of course best; and activities like stair climbing offer the most intense “high” with the least time required, but for those who are obese or just want to get moving again, a simple walk can be the first step in a process that will change your mood and entire life.

They told me to write this

Many regular X Gym members have eventually fired their “shrinks” because they just don’t need them anymore. When they are exercising regularly, they find it easier to eat better too.  The X Gym member who suggested I write this post said, “I knew there was a reason I was (more…)

X Gym Schools Seattle Stairclimbers

Allrightythen! It looks like X Gym put on another stairclimbing clinic  tonight (12/3/09) in the 56 floor WaMu tower. The credit really has to go to God though, because we even stomped on our own times from last year by miraculous margins! Thanks to everyone who was praying for us! It obviously worked!

Here are the awards they offered tonight and who won them:

1st place male: Jesse Berg (X Gym Friends and Alumni team)

2nd place male: Kevin Crossman (X Gym Team)

1st place female: Kourtney Dexter (X Gym Team)

2nd place female: Jamela Leddy (X Gym Team)

1st place team: X Gym Friends and Alumni

2nd place team: X Gym

1st place relay team: X Gym

2nd place relay team: “Loaded for Bear”. Sorry X Gymers- we only had one relay team. My bad! I didn’t know they were awarding a 2nd place relay team this year (they didn’t last year). If I would have known, I would have formed another one (Kailyn Jeff and John were chomping at the bit). Then again, it was nice to let some other people win something   Loaded for Bear was actually really fast, so good job guys!

1st place trainer: Kevin Crossman (X Gym). Kevin isn’t actually a trainer, but that’s OK. X Gym still got the award. Jesse is a spin instructor in Chicago, so technically he won this award, but that still would have given us the award, since he was on the X Gym Friends and Alumni team.

1st place gym: X Gym

I should also mention that between the two X Gym teams, we won 8 of the top 10 overall best times, and: (more…)

X Gym Schools Chicago Stair Climbers

X Gym’s the three man Delta Force stair squad definitely left their mark on the Sears tower in Chicago today (11/15/09). As you may remember, X Gym members and trainers typically dominate any and all athletic events we enter, and stair competitions are certainly no exception.

The 103 story Sears tower climb is the second largest turnout of any stair race in the country with 1,800 participants showing up this year. It is surpassed only by the “Big Climb” up the Columbia center in Seattle. The Sears tower is 34 floors more than the Big Climb however, and since each floor is longer and taller, it is much harder and more competitive.

It is in fact, the hardest and highest climb in America, with the nation’s top climbers showing up to strut their stuff each year. Despite this incredible talent pool, The X Gym ended up owning two age categories to prove once again that we are the most successful training studio in the northwest as well as the most intense and effective training system on the planet.

Kevin Crossman, an X Gym member, along with his twin brother Brian, took 4th and 3rd in the 20-29 age bracket. Placing 11^th overall out of 1,800 racers was amazing for Kevin since this was only his 2^nd race ever. Brian’s 9^th place finish overall was simply miraculous, considering this was his first ever stair race! The twin assassins blew away the stair climbing “veterans” with their astounding performance. No one could believe how well these newcomers did!

I competed in the 40-49 age bracket, and took 3rd place in that division. Since I am still relatively new to this sport as well, my dream was to place in the top 20 overall. Had I not invited the Crossmans, (more…)

A Look Inside Obesity

In a recent study, 2/3 of the subjects in an alcohol treatment group who saw physical damage in a scan of their brain and body, stopped drinking. This was more than double the standard success rate of the control group.

Our society is more obese than ever. When I was in grade school, there was usually one token fat kid in each grade, and they got their fare share of teasing. Now it seems that being fat is the norm, and the skinny kids are the ones getting teased.  This shift took only about 35 years to happen, and there is no sign of it letting up.

If you are fat, you’re eating sugar (see my last post for the different forms of sugar). Eating fat doesn’t make you fat, and eating protein actually makes you leaner. It’s the sugar that is killing you, and I mean that both figuratively and literally. For an interesting study on that, click here: http://bit.ly/37PIWR

The picture below shows what fat looks like under the dark winter clothes people wear to hide it this time of year, which also provides another way to ignore it, and to add to it through the sugar-fest we call the holiday season. A picture really does speak 10,000 words (or 100,000 sugar calories) doesn’t it?

Will You Take a Stand With Me Against Slavery and Disease?

I have written more often on sugar than any other subject, and how in its many forms is the main cause of type 2 diabetes, brain damage, immune suppression (making us susceptible to many illnesses ranging from the common cold to swine flu), and that is is the main food of choice for cancer cells. These are only a small fraction of the health problems associated with sugar intake. To list them all would create a post that would be so long, most people wouldn’t even bother to read it.

The biggest concern for most people is their weight. For the first time in the history of our planet, we now have more fat people than hungry people. Another first for humans is our childhood obesity epidemic, and the associated heart disease and diabetes among these kids. I bet you can guess what the culprit is.

Sugar has been scientifically proven to be more addictive than cocaine. The sugar cartels know this, and even bank on it – in a big way. They know that sugar is killing you and making you fat. They also know it was the biggest driver of slavery in the world. Did you know that it still is? I bet you didn’t, and if you eat sugar, you are (more…)